Light The Shade

The Art of the Engine Driver - Steven Carroll

2008-07-22T22:43:00.000-07:00

The Art of the Engine Driver
Steven Carroll

Published in 2001 in Australia this is the first of a trilogy about suburban Australian life written by Melbourne born and based author Steven Carroll. Prior to writing this novel which is set in the mid to late 1950's in a suburb north of Melbourne, Steven had published three other novels, but it is this one that brought him to the general attention of Australian literary readers with it being short listed for the 2002 Miles Franklin Award (widely regarded as the most prestigious award in Australian Literature).

For me, I'm new to the Australian literature scene and was introduced to Steven Carroll through his latest work 'The Time We have Taken' winner of this year's Miles Franklin Award, in fact at the time of the announcement I was flipping the 200th page! And at the conclusion of the book I made haste to reserve the first two books in the series from the library. A very good move in hindsight, as even though the library has increased its available copies from two to about eight, there are today over 25 people waiting for the book to become available. And so for me it was the book I chose out of the pile of 18 odd books I currently have on loan!

It is a quick book to read, easily digestible and accessible to all readers in its straight forward manner. I commenced it on Sunday night and ignoring my wonderful partner, the traffic and my daughter in the car trip to work this morning devoured the last glorious pages. And my initial summary is that this book is better than the third (which immediately nags at me to find out who the winner of the Miles Franklin was for 2002!) and also makes me wonder whether the win this year for the 3rd book, whether the judges have in a way considered all three?

But speculation aside this is the story of a wonderfully ordinary typical Australian family, battlers living in the suburbs dealing with the issues that each of us face on a day to day basis. It centres around three main characters Vic an engine driver with ambitions of promotion from hauling goods by steam to the privileged and eagerly sort position of a big wheel driver (driving passengers by diesel), of Rita and her struggle to come to a decision on her life and marriage, and of Michael their 12 year old son who dreams of cricket, of being a kid, and is facing the reality of growing up too fast.

Steven Carroll takes the mundane normality of these ordinary lives in this ordinary suburb and explores them deeply. He is not afraid to really pick them apart, expose their weaknesses, their fragile foundations and the parts of their character which they will not compromise. It is his skill to dig so thoroughly that really placed me there on that one summer night north of Melbourne as Vic, Rita and Michael stroll down their street to George Bedser's house in order to celebrate the engagement of his daughter. Greeting the neighbours and lost in the thoughts of their lives, ambitions, hopes and failures. There is magic to be found and for me it was how Steven takes what I would consider a boring middle class family in a nothing suburb and turns it into a story that I have thoroughly enjoyed.

There is only one sound that matters. The sound of speed. The old cork ball barely leaves his hand when he hears the snap of impact, sees the ball ricochet off the edge of a fence paling, fly onto the side fence and bounce onto the lawn in front of him. He is aware that the neighbourhood will be listening. He is always aware of the raised eyebrows all around him and the muttered comments that the kid will destroy the fence before he is finished.

Uniquely the book is based on one summer night, and opens up with a 'portrait' of not only Vic, Rita and Michael but also the whole street, the suburb, the party, the whole scene in all its Australian splendor. The Party is the centre piece of this story and the narrative roams back and forth always returning or starting on this night, with a side story of Paddy, Vic's hero, who at the same time is pulling out of Spencer Street Station.

One aspect of Steven's writing amazes me, and that is his wonderful talent of being able to deliver the ending to a story before its truly begun without losing the reader. I am not sure if other people would find this delightful as I do, or irritating, and indeed in other books I have found the looking forward such as 'this would be a moment they would remember for years to come' or 'this single moment, Jack would ponder many times in his future' to be an annoying way of underlining text to ensure the reader knows its important. But in this story I found it charming, in an odd way, it is like being let in on a secret that only you and the author share.

And that's the way his life will end. A quiet funeral. Rita, Michael, and a few of those sympathetic strangers he would call friends throughout the last years. A couple of drinks afterwards. A short drive to the cemetery. And a nice spot in a tropical garden for the urn full of dust that he will become.

In summary the book is like a path which you know leading somewhere important, and as you reach that place it is the consequences of the journey that make the decision. This is a thoroughly enjoyable novel.

Orange Prize for Fiction

2008-04-06T03:24:00.000-07:00

So it starts again!...

The Orange prize for fiction is a prize for the most talented female writer of an English novel sized book! On 18 March the long list was announced.. it is...

Anita Amirrezvani - The Blood of Flowers
Stella Duffy - The Room of Lost Things
Jennifer Egan - The Keep
Anne Enright - The Gathering
Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs
Tessa Hadley The Master Bedroom
Nancy Huston - Fault Lines
Gail Jones - Sorry
Sadie Jones - The Outcast
Lauren Liebenberg - The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam
Charlotte Mendelson - When We Were Bad
Deborah Moggach - In the Dark
Anita Nair - Mistress
Heather O’Neill - Lullabies for Little Criminals
Elif Shafak - The Bastard of Istanbul
Dalia Sofer - The Septembers of Shiraz
Scarlett Thomas - The End of Mr.Y
Carol Topolski - Monster Love
Rose Tremain - The Road Home
Patricia Wood - Lottery

The short list will be announced mid April, so there is no chance we'll get through these by then, especially as there are 20 of them!! However we'll read a couple and then devote our attentions to the short list when it is announced!

Hopefully we will start them soon, and we have ordered them from our trusty library which supports us very well, but we'll pause until we finish our current books.. for me that is 'The Inheritance of Loss' by Hiran Desai (booker 2006 winner) and for Ian, one of my favourite fantasy books, 'Mirror of her Dreams' by Stephen Donaldson.

The Drawing of the Dark - Tim Powers

2008-04-06T01:04:00.000-07:00

Published: London 2002 by Gollancz
328p

This is a different book for me to choose, but I have been swayed by Ian who absolutely loves this book!! In fact he has read it many times. I started it about 2 months ago, but due to other commitments (mainly work) didn't really dive in until about 4 days ago when I started reading with enthusiasm. I haven't read much at all recently and have missed it much more than I realised.

As an aside.. This book was a nominee for the Balrog Award in 1980 and also ranked 17th in the Locus Poll Award for best fantasy novel in 1980.

Ian Review:
Read: about 4 times, most recently in January 2008
Rank: 91/100

Recommendation - read this book while drinking beer! I love this book - one of my all time favourites. An irreverent mix of the mythology of the West, coupled with a witty, seasoned, and (at his heart) good natured and somewhat world weary veteran mercenary as lead character. A fantasy set in an urban landscape rather than trekking through dungeons. From the teasers in the first part of the book, while the character (and the reader) build towards the revelation, the reader is kept enthralled. One of the reasons I love the book is that by the time the revelation comes around, of what is really happening, both yourself as reader and the main character (Brian Duffy), already know what is coming, so there is a no surprise but rather a bitter, resigned humour on the part of Duffy, and a 'tick the box' acknowledgement on the part of the reader - but it works as it doesn't take itself at all seriously! The idea of the rise and fall of the West being linked to beer is a novel and fantastically enthralling concept. Some of the dialogue made me laugh out loud. Get a Coopers Best Extra Stout and sit down for a great read.

Rach Review:
Read: 31 March 2008
Rank: 87/100

This book isn't a literary masterpiece, it is not crafted the way a booker winner is, but it is a true adventure and a wonderful 'whisk away from today' book! The first book (the book is split into three books and about 25 paragraphs), is my favourite, it is the story of a rough, tough and hardened man who has a dry but very witty sense of humour's journey from Venice to Vienna. It is the magic, the myth and the question that it puts in your mind about what is real and what is fiction that completely drew me in. I love fantasy science fiction, but with this book in the first section it skirts the edges of novel and fantasy, and left me so intrigued, that I dived into the second book with a passion.

The second book was not so compelling but still enchanting and mystifying until I reached the reveal when I was a little let down by its ludicrously.

That is not to say that I didn't enjoy this book! I opened a door and found something I wasn't expecting and that was almost comical, but overcoming this, I read on with an urgency to reach the conclusion to find out the riddle of this witty book and enjoyed it thoroughly. I cannot however say it was my favourite fantasy book, but is an excellent fun story, full of evocative story telling that draws you in. It's only failing is with the sceptic reader (i.e. me) that cannot quite stretch my brain to combine history with fantasy. To be honest if this book had been full fantasy without the historic element I would have loved it so much more! As it was though it is a wonderfully painted journey through a magic realism set in the 1500-1600s!

Thoroughly enjoyable fantasy read! My highest joys in this book was the wit of the main character Brian Duffy who is very easy to identify with, both intelligent, gruff, witty and real, his character is the most brilliant thing!

Man Booker Announced

2008-04-06T00:58:00.000-07:00

So this post is very late, in fact I have just recovered this blog and am going to dive in again! But more on that shortly!! First it is important to briefly cover off the important facts!! Who won? and also would we have chosen that book as our favourite??

On the day before the big announcement, we sent each other our lists...

Ian:
1. Animal's People
2. Mr Pip & The Gathering
4. Darkmans
5. The Reluctant Fundamentalist
6. On Chesil Beach

Rach:
1. Animal's People
2. Mr Pip
3. The Gathering
4. The Reluctant Fundamentalist
5. On Chesil Beach
(I didn't read Darkmans in time)

And the winner.....

The Gathering!

The Welsh Girl - Peter Ho Davies

2008-04-05T17:53:00.001-07:00

The Welsh Girl

Ian's Review:
Read: 15 September 2007
Rank: 87/100

Great work, evocative, and a real culture disconnection. For some reason this book didn't resonate emotionally, even though this is a powerful book. I think this was more to do with my current state of mind than the story.

Rach Review:
Read: 24 September 2007
Rank: 91/100

Twenty-four hours (or something poetic like that) I started this book.. the Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies, my expectations low. The book both winner and loser, a consolation formed part of the Booker Prize Long list for 2007, but failed to make the short list. But still surely this book should compete for worthiness in my eyes before opening its cover, and indeed it had done until my partner in this journey through the long list gave his sanction to another book over this.

My feelings now on completing both are the opposite, both books (the other being On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Booker Short List from 2005)) are brilliantly constructed, and what more could you expect. Both also tell the tales of ordinary people captured and embraced by their circumstance, their nationality, their time and place on this earth. They both ring of the importance of where we come from in our choices and our life.

They are also both emotional books, On Beauty is a surburban mixed black and white family living in white Wellington US, and threads many other deep and intricate characters into the story, picking up and dropping them as life does, which lends it a graceful reality.

The other The Welsh Girl set in the 2nd world war in Wales focuses on one character, and interweaves several different points of view, but two other key characters.

Both are about identity, the crossing of our nationality and beliefs and the effect that has on us when we are bound by a society of expectations. The choices we make in the circumstances presented. So I guess in the end the difference is the personal connection and the ability to connect the story, the emotions and experience directly to our heart.

The Welsh Girl did that for me. It was simple and complex, heart wrenching and comical, the hate of war and the intimacy of love, and the undercurrent throughout the book encompassing the three main characters of the quest to define and know one’s self. The raw nerve of this proposition is one to which I relate, the shock of a personal decision which is made but not understood and the question of how we can know what is right for us, ourselves our being but not truly relate it to being ourself that has made it and then the further interrogation of our deeper motives and self that challenge and scare us. The power of making that choice, the consequences and how they tug at our heart, this book sings those things to me.

So I sit here, 4pm Australian time, (some ungodly hour in England), heavy tears rolling from my cheeks as I feel the character’s pain, the sorrow and joy wrapped in the ending. How much the story relates to mine, and how much it doesn’t.. how significant her choices were, and how significant (albeit not as huge) are to me.

I long to debate this with you. Challenge the paths the authors chose, how similar and different the books are, the merits, the pitfalls, in particular, what do you think of the ending? I found it well rounded, worthy to the book, tying in all the queries, resolving the open threads and leaving me humble.. still aching for the passion and somehow for it to work between them. In this you are right! in this story, I didn’t wish for him to return from war triumphing to his love, but to the passion of the intimate exchange between two supposed enemies.

Most of all I am in love with the poetic tangle of all the relationships of the characters with themselves, the English man who is German Jewish, the German who fought full of pride, then learns that he is not the person he thought and the Girl, Welsh but longing to be what she is not, tied now with English blood, German Love and Welsh pride. I loved the journey.

Gifted - Nikita Lalwani

2008-04-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

Gifted

Ian's Review
Read: 5 October 07
Rank: 92/100

Really enjoyed it - fantastic book. Very much around the protaganist, her internal world and her family. They are Indian living in the UK and are very well portrayed. You can understand their motives, out of good intent, even as they damage each other more and more, particularly Rumika (main character) as we are more privy to her thoughts. Interesting again that there is a strong context of cultural dislocation to the book, as in the others we have read. This one did have an emotional impact on me as well as being a work I enjoyed.

Rach's Review
Read: n/a
Rank: n/a

Darkmans - Nicola Barker

2007-10-09T15:07:00.001-07:00

Darkmans

Ian's Review:
Read: October 2007
Rank: 90/100

Rach's Review:
Read: n/a
Rank: n/a

The Gathering - Anne Enright

2007-10-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

Published: London, Johnathon Cape 2007
Pages: 260p
Shortlisted: The Man Booker Prize 2007

Ian's Review
Read: Late October 2007
Rank: 92/100

Rach's Review
Read: 18 October 2007
Rank: 93/100

This book is harder to read than most, it jumps from a time to generation and from feeling to emotion, it is ever changing as ones memory would be. We don't when we recall the past remember it as a sequence of time, but rather events or triggers, which may or may not be in line with time. One part of the memory is triggered by a current thought and then in turn it sends other messages and conveys other stories of our past.

The Gathering is full of these, you delve into her memories, her stories, her thoughts (whether they be true or perceived) and are totally immersed in a world which is not yours but you are able to clearly view and relate to through her amazing ability to convey.

The journey however is not a fluffy pretty tale, she is on the verge of divorce and her brother has just died. She seeks answers and this is essentially the story of her finding them, and the awakening of the concious which she has past forgotten, but holds the key and answers to the now.

It is a powerful story, and when I finished this book, it roared in my head, I couldn't quieten it. It engulfed all my senses and sent them spinning. It is a must read for everyone.

Why then doesn't it score higher? because although this story is amazing, powerful, full, it also sucks at your core, questions your values and makes you revisit your own thoughts and feelings. It drains your emotion and I felt literally tired when I finished, and as I write this 6 months after its completion I still think about this book and remember its complexity, and that for me, in a world where a soft story is easily forgotten against the harshness of our everyday lives, is something I cherish. The books that I have rated higher are both powerful but leave me in a better state of mind for facing my own realities! :)

Animal's People - Indra Sinha

2007-10-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Rach's Review:
Read: 12 October 2007
Rank:

I felt so full after finishing this book. It is a gritty, beautiful and real story about a person, the people in his life, and in a way his personal self realization and, in his own eyes only maybe, redemption. There are major political events and tensions, but the story is not about these, to me anyway, but they are context to his personal journey. He narrates the story so it is through his eyes, however how he cares for others and how they care for him comes through strongly, slowly at first and then building, even though he does not know this himself. The way the book finishes, with a fever dream flavour, almost a rite of passage ritual full of visions (or were they) is so intense, such a ride. I cried, I dreamt of it the night after I finished it, and my mind is still full now and I dont want to make room for anything else.

On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan

2007-10-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Published: London: Johnathon Cape, 2007
Pages: 166
Shortlisted: The Man Booker Prize 2007

Ian's Review
Read: 15 October 2007
Rank:

From our conversations I was expecting to find it rich but only distantly engaging - like a beautiful old vase viewed through an antique store window. Actually I was very emotionally engaged by it, I really felt for the characters, and how their internal worlds were so different, unbeknownst to each of them. And how misinterpreted or unspoken actions or words, or choices made in one brief moment, can forever change the course of a life. Very poignant. It actually really did get to me, maybe coming hot on the heels of having been deeply wrenched by Mister Pip and having recently waded through an entertaining but non emotionally engaging Darkmans!

Rach's Review
Read: 7 Oct 2007
Rank: 87/100

This is a beautiful book, it is deep and powerful, full of emotion and pin pointing the importance of a single moment. It explores the journey to one choice, on which the whole future of the two main characters rests and how they choose to deal with their feelings, desires, wants, needs and the sense of duty they feel.

The story is wonderfully written, it is poignant and beautifully captures England in the sixties, the description of the beach, the hotel, the setting place you there, looking uncomfortably in on their world as they struggle with their first wedding night. I also admire the subject for this book, dealing so openly and honestly with the competing emotions of the two characters.

Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones

2007-10-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

Published: Melbourne: Text, 2006
Pages: 220
Shortlisted: Man Booker Prize 2007
Read: 29 Sept 2007

Summary (from Cover)
Matilda is a 13 year old girl living in a remote village surrounded by civil unrest in the Pacific. With services shutting down, the only remaining white man, Mr Watts, takes over classes in the schoolroom, reading aloud to his class from Great Expectations, a book by his friend Mr Dickens.

Soon Dickens’ hero Pip starts to come alive for Matilda, becoming as real to her as her god fearing mother, and the greatest friendship of her life begins.

But on an island at war, the power of the imagination can be a dangerously provocative thing…

Review

Mister Pip is brilliant, it is another, which deals about nationality, this time Black Islanders, but the book is firmly based around the characters and the personal journey they take. It is told innocently by the main character who is just a child, and you feel her, the joys, the beauty, the strength, the frailty through her telling. You slip comfortably inside the characters and the ease of the dialogue and writing just carries you along.

The key to the heart of this book is through its link to the literate world. It is one that connects any avid reader, as we already know and understand this relationship, it is indeed why we ourselves read, and is a great formula for success in a novel because there is no risk associated with it. So with one link formed, the rest are easy to get, it is a formula, but it never feels that way, it is really very clever.

The Man Booker Prize - 2007

2007-10-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

On the 31st August 2007 in a search for better books to read (nothing was coming close to Raw Shark Texts), I did a Wikipedia search on the Man Booker Prize, and pulled off the complete list since it started. This print out, which has seen much better days and is now in quite a shabby state from living in my handbag for over a month and is complete with tears, scuffs, many pencil and pen markings and words has become the list to which I am now reading. But more than that I learnt at the time of printing this that the Long List (13 titles) had been announced but the short list had not, so my quest became to read them all. I would like to say that I hoped to achieve this before the announcement of the winner (which is the 16th October, so I still have a little time), but am realistic enough to know this is not possible, and so therefore I just aim to read as many of the short list (announced two weeks ago) as I can.

At this point it would seem appropriate to thank my local library in Boroondara for ordering in the 7 books on the long list that they did not have after I casually requested them. How brilliant is that?

Short List - 2007

Darkmans - Nicola Barker
The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid
Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones
On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
Animal's People - Indra Sinha
The Gathering - Anne Enright

(Image taken from www.themanbookerprize.com - Official website for The Man Booker Prize)

Titles from the Long List - 2007

Self Help - Edward Docx
The Gift of Rain - Tan Twan Eng
The Welsh Girl - Peter Ho Davies
Gifted - Nikita Lalwani
What Was Lost - Catherine O'Flynn
Consolation - Michael Redhill
Winnie & Wolf - A.N. Wilson

I am pleased to say that between Ian and I we will get through the whole short list by next Tuesday! I have read four of the short list and am halfway through The Gathering and Ian has read one and is halfway through Darkmans. We will both finish our current books in time, but I am not sure I'll get through the 800+ pages of Darkmans in time, and well Ian has quite a feat to achieve if he was to get through the remaining four, but I'm sure he'll knock one or two more off in time.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Moshin Hamid

2007-10-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

Published: London: Penguin, 2007
Pages: 184
Shortlisted : The Man Booker Prize 2007

Ian's Review
Read: September 2007
Rank: 91/100

Great dynamics as you don't know who he is talking to, but slowly build up an image. And beautiful description of the protagist's experiences - even more intimate than first person as you are privy to his conversation with a stranger - almost vouyeristic and secret. The careful, solicitous and polite language is a big part of it as well!

Love your thoughts on The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Agree with its bravery given the subject matter - do you think that it could actually have a chance to win the Booker, an American prize? Guess it depends on the makeup of the judges - wonder if there would be an outcry! You certainly go through the protagonists journey as he relates it, and feel what he feels, which draws you in to understanding where he is at, which is a foreign place for a western reader! And as he addresses his conversational partner about his reaction to what he said about the WTC attacks, he is also of course addressing the reader. Very clever. His journey is political but also very personal. I really like this book. I am still thinking about it now.

Rach's Review:
Read: 24 Sept 2007
Rank: 92/100

I love the writing style of this book! It is totally not everyday that you come across a book that is written entirely as a one sided conversation and this must have been pretty hard to pull off, and he does it brilliantly! I also think the way that he handles the subjects is fantastic, the way he talks about the confusion and the mix of emotions that the lead character plays is majestic. It is a tough subject, even for the author to condone or seem to be supporting terrorism, but doing it in a way that you do not lose all respect.

That I think is one of the keys to this book, you support and feel for him all the way through. Yes I also felt repulsed, and disgusted at his feelings, but I still 'felt' for him, given that the way the book is constructed, you know the things he says about Western and American culture and attitude is also correct, and this balance allows you to, in some way understand his prediciment.

The other thing that I like about the book is that the day after I read it I thought about it again. This for me is why it went above The Welsh Girl, which was a beautiful book, which totally touched me, but it also answered all my questions, this book didn't, it leave the last question open, and also raises questions about yourself and what you feel about Global Corporatisation and how we see these things but the consequences of them to not directly affect our families and loved ones

Winterwood - Patrick McCabe

2007-10-09T12:23:00.000-07:00

Printed: London: Bloomsbury, 2006
Pages: 242

Summary (from Cover):
On a return to his home place in the mountainy middle of Ireland, Redmond Hatch meets old Pappie Strange, a fiddler and teller of tales whose honeyed words and giddy reels have persuaded the local mothers and fathers, anxious at the loss of traditional values, to bring their little lambs to his Saturday morning ceilidhs." "Once, in Kilburn, married to the sugar-lipped Catherine, and sharing his daughter Immy's passion for My Little Pony, with its enchanted kingdom of winterwood, Redmond was happy. But then infidelity, betrayal and the 'scary things' from which he would protect his daughter steal into the magic kingdom, and the bad things begin to happen. Now Redmond - once little Red - prowls the barren outlands alone, haunted by the disgraced shade of Ned Strange." "A shape-shifter, Red reinvents himself as Dominic Tiernan, builds a new life in TV, finds a new wife and begins to know domestic happiness once more. Then one day, in Dublin, he spies Catherine again.

Ian's Review:
Read - September 2007
Rank - 79/100

Thought I would follow our phone conversation with the rest of my thoughts now that I have finished Winterwood. Don't think we will compare notes though because I don't recommend the book! Brilliant structure, imagery and writing, but it is dark and reeks of madness and malevolence, coupled with sad vile deluded rationalising by the protagonist. I found it profoundly disturbing. Sorry, but strong words for a strong reaction!

Rach's Review:
Read - n/a
Rank - n/a

Given Ian's review and the world of amazing books out there that will entice me, I have decided to skip this one :)

The Journey So Far

2007-10-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

Seeing I have discussed book covers, their magic and appeal, it is appropriate to tell you that this whole notion, this whole book club of two people started from one very such book cover in a Borders store in the middle of winter. Now a confession I have to make before I go too far is that I don't buy a lot of books, it is a question of storage, and practicality! My appetite would also leave me broke and as I feel I'm lured by the call of new books I rarely return to past loves. So bookstores are like travel brochures, full of exciting promised lands, and I browse and note them in my note book.

So in browsing the 'New' I found 'Raw Shark Texts' by Steven Hall. The edition of this book and therefore the cover of this book differs around the world, and the version in Australia is unique. It is also brilliant and having seen the English cover I have to say I favour ours. If you have a chance, definitely pick this book up, look at the front, the back, the spine, and read the text it contains. It is a book marketing masterpiece!

This book I had to borrow so placed it onto my reservation list ( I am in love with my local library ) and joined a dozen others waiting for this book. Even today the four copies of the book are on loan! But it was a worthwhile wait filled with other books, other books which while some were good and others not so, were in no comparison to this one, and on receiving my turn, I showed it to Ian who was completely taken by the cover and first page of this book in the same way I was, but he was a bit more brash and decided to hell with waiting and purchased it. So together we read this book and it was a brilliant journey, and a journey that was further enhanced by our many conversations since. And even today we can happily talk about this story.

From here (which was only two months ago) we have devoured a number of books, and the purpose of this blog is to give us a home for sharing them and recording our thoughts, our lists and whatever else!

I must also tell you from that point and several disappointing books later, the lure of the Man Booker Prize and the promise of books that are of a certain quality have given us our current reading list.

So below are our current rankings of books. I think the aim here will be to each have our top ten by Christmas! Each of these we will in turn discuss:

Rach's List:
1. Raw Shark Texts - Steven Hall 98/100 (Jul 07)
2. Animal's People - Indra Singh 97/100 (Oct 07)
3. Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones 94/100 (Sep 07)
4. The Reluctant Fundamentalist 92/100 (Sep 07)
5. The Welsh Girl - Peter Ho Davies 91/100 (Sep 07)
6. On Beauty - Zadie Smith 89/100 (Sep 07)
7. On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan 87/100 (Oct 07)

Ian's List:
1. Raw Shark Texts - Steven Hall 99/100 (Jul 07)
2. Gifted - Nikita Lalwani 92/100 (Sep 07)
3. On Beauty - Zadie Smith 91/100 (Sep 07)
3. The Reluctant Fundametalist 91/100 (Sep 07)
5. The Welsh Girl - Peter Ho Davies 87/100 (Sep 07)
6. Winterwood - Patric McCabe 79/100 (Sep 07)

Light The Shade

2007-10-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

A name for your blog is like a journey in itself.. it is a search for the exact combination of a few words which will provide an executive summary, a conveyed emotion and witty inspiration for the many passages and tales that you will reveal. To me it can be compared to the cover of a book. Do you judge it? I will not be ashamed to say that I do.

In the heart of a bookstore, the light dimmed by the towers around you, millions of words are woven around where you stand, they tangle and travel, they jump and spin, they call and shout, but their meaning and tales are all contained, restrained by their cover. In this spot however why do you reach out for the 8th rigid spine on the third shelf? It is a message contained in graphic, colour, font and again a word combination strong enough to lure us with its promise to flip it and digest its carefully selected messages on the back. And then you arrive at the decision, replace it on its shelf, thumb some pages in an effort to make a more informed judgement or get it.

I love book shops and books, they are places of make believe, millions of worlds live between their walls and protective covers.

So with the need to provide the same theory to this blog which will review the lines of text my co-author and I devour, I needed to insert some time and thought into its name, not to mention battle with the dreaded word 'availablity' in choosing something that would not only represent our discussions but also reflect our personalities, and as dawn approaches and the morning moves from its third hour into its fourth, I selected 'Light the Shade'. It beautiful song that I adore by Xavier Rudd with the following words:

When you're feeling lonely
And you heart is hungry
I'll light the shade
When the moon escapes you
And the sun denies you
I'll light the shade

Books light my shade..